2007-08 General Catalog

              Campus Climate
and Diversity
California State University, Fresno is not
immune to issues of racial and gender
intolerance that have surfaced across the
country. While we are fortunate that the
university has not had to deal with some
of the more blatant aspects of racial and
gender discrimination, these issues are
very important to us.
As a university community, we have taken
steps to become more sensitive to issues
of race and gender. We must continue
to be vigilant and not tolerate improper
behavior that is motivated and directed at
individuals or groups based solely on these
criteria. I would like to underscore the
fact that this type of wrongful behavior
will not be tolerated on our campus. Any
instance of this kind, or any that intends
to abridge the rights of anyone on campus,
will be investigated and the appropriate
action taken, including legal action when
necessary.
As a university, we have the clear obliga-tion
to ensure equal access and oppor-tunity
for all to participate in education
and university life, whether as students,
faculty, or staff. We need everyone’s
participation in our efforts to promote
an atmosphere of understanding and
cooperation that is free from bigotry and
intolerance.
In closing, let me direct your attention
to the statement in the next column that
I fully endorse.
John D. Welty, President
The California State University reflects
California’s rich cultural diversity. The
varied backgrounds of students, faculty,
and staff enrich the university’s intellectual
life and create its unique community.
While the university views diversity as a
great source of its strength, some people
on campus, as elsewhere in society, feel
threatened by those who are different and
act in disregard of the personal dignity
and rights of others. Discrimination and
harassment have no place in a university
community. They limit the educational
aspirations of students, interfere with
the performance of faculty and staff, and
damage the environment of tolerance
and mutual regard that must prevail for a
university to fulfill its mission.
The university is therefore committed to
maintaining an environment free from
discrimination and harassment. To fulfill
this commitment, the university will work to
prevent discrimination from occurring and
will ensure that federal and state laws as
well as university regulations prohibiting
discrimination are fully enforced.
Demeaning and gratuitously offensive
conduct sometimes takes expressive
forms that, although repugnant, cannot
be prohibited or punished. Both the First
Amendment to the Constitution of the
United States and Article I, Section 2 of
the California Constitution restrict the
university’s power to limit free speech.
To do so, even in the case of speech
that is offensive and demeaning, would
undermine basic principles of discourse
fundamental to any university.
As an educational institution, the university
will use its intellectual and persuasive
powers to discourage offensive and
harassing speech from occurring and to
encourage civil exchange. The university
will attempt to teach its students and
employees to listen as well as to speak,
and to do both with an open mind. This
is consistent with the university’s mission
to foster dialogue that educates students
and prepares them for effective citizenship.
The mission requires respect for differing
viewpoints, but does not give license
for demeaning language and harassing
behavior that stifle free exchange of
ideas and compromise the university’s
educational goals.
Respect throughout the university for the
dignity and rights of others, including the
right to be free from discrimination and
harassment and the right to speak freely,
is essential to creating and maintaining an
environment conducive to learning.
— From Campus Climate: Toward Appreciating
Diversity, a report prepared for the CSU, 1990.
California State University Fresno
named Kevin S. Cooper, a business
student who was a member of the
Bulldog football team, as 2006
President Medalist. Cooper, who
represents the Craig School of
Business, earned his B.S. in business
administration, finance option. He
competed his studies in three years with
a 4.0 grade-point average. As a member
of the Bulldog football team, he was the
top academic performer and was named
to the Academic All-WAC team for the
2004 season. A frequent volunteer at
Children’s Hospital Central California,
Cooper also conducted a marketing
and recruitment campaign for the
Boys2Men/Girls2Women Foundation.
The President’s Medal winner, one
of two that designate the university’s
top students, is selected from the nine
undergraduate Dean’s Medalists who
represent the academic colleges and
schools and the Division of Student
Affairs.
Diversity
18 2007-2008 California State University, Fresno General Catalog